Lawton Is Hosting A Tomato Festival And Free Fitness Activities, All On Saturday, July 11

Summer is the best time of the year for fresh, locally-grown produce in Oklahoma. Over the weekend, I visited the Lawton Farmers Market, and multiple booths were overflowing with onions, garlic, squash, zucchini, and most of all, tomatoes, just in time for this weekend's annual Tomato Festival.

If you've never had the pleasure of enjoying a fresh tomato, then you'll definitely want to visit the Lawton Farmers Market this Saturday. I recently picked up some locally grown cherry tomatoes that I can't wait to try. I'm currently trying to decide whether I make them into a pasta sauce, add them to a salad or just savor them individually as a little snack.

The ones I picked up over the weekend will need some time to ripen, so I'll have plenty of time to decide. But you can guarantee that I'll be back at the Lawton Farmers Market this weekend during the annual Tomato Festival for more fresh tomatoes and maybe some locally made salsa.

Kaley Patterson

The Lawton Farmers Market's annual Tomato Festival will kickoff at 8 a.m. Saturday.

This weekend's market will celebrate all things tomato with vendors selling different varieties of tomatoes. There will also be multiple tomato contests visitors can vote in. This year will mark the 15th annual Tomato Festival at the Lawton Farmers Market.

The annual Tomato Festival will be part of the Lawton Farmers Market's weekly market starting at 8 a.m. this Saturday. This year's festival will also take place in conjunction with Let's Get Moving Lawton in Shepler Park, featuring free family-friendly fitness activities.

Below is the full schedule of events for Saturday's Tomato Festival and Let's Get Moving Lawton.

• 8 a.m. - Lawton Farmers Market opens, and Tomato Festival begins; Let's Get Moving Lawton 2K Walk/Run starts
• 9 a.m. - Deadline for Tomato Festival salsa entries
• 9:30 a.m. - Zumba in Shepler Park
• 10 a.m. - Deadline for Tomato Festival tomato contest entries, including prettiest, ugliest, best tasting and largest
• 10:30 a.m. - Taichi in Shepler Park
• 11:30 a.m. - Yoga in Shepler Park; Tomato Festival contest winners announced
• 1 p.m. - Lawton Farmers Market closes

All activities in Shepler Park for Let's Get Moving Lawton are free to attend. Registration for activities is not required but is encouraged. Interested participants can pre-register online.

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T-shirts will be available for the 15th annual Tomato Festival and Let's Get Moving Lawton.

Let's Get Moving Lawton will have free t-shirts available on a first-come, first-served basis. The Lawton Farmers Market will also be selling t-shirts for the 15th annual Tomato Festival.

For more information about the Lawton Farmers Market's annual Tomato Festival, follow the market on Facebook. And more information about Let's Get Moving Lawton can be found on the City of Lawton's website.

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